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Brady Gannon

Epidemics and Society Reflective Essay

 

Over the last spring semester, in class we learned about the many epidemics and infectious diseases existing in the world we live in and how they affect not just our health, but also our environment and culture. Before taking this class, I never really thought about disease or how it altered the world around us besides the obvious health factors that the diseases caused. This class, the artifact assignments specifically, helped shed light to all of the moving parts that epidemics and infectious diseases can alter and change. The artifacts ranging from topics like the Black Death, to the Irish potato blight, to HIV and AIDS showed how disease shaped the course of history and also how society and human action changed the courses of infectious diseases as well.

When I think about how societies were changed by diseases the epidemic that first comes into mind is the plague. It is estimated that the Black Death claimed the lives of approximately one third of Europe’s population at the height of the outbreak. This was the cause of quite a few historical events, including in the Justinian plague outbreak, East and West Rome had plans to unite and come together, which would have potentially been a major diplomatic event for the time, but the plans were shattered when the plague came through and killed many of the leaders involved. (Artifact 3).

The plagues effects were not limited to political affairs, religion across Europe was taken to new heights with the increasingly high death toll caused by the Black Death. Religious fanatics (known as flagellants) claimed that this was mankind’s punishment from God for their sins and wrongdoings. They traveled the countryside whipping themselves and stoning people to death to accept the punishment for their vengeful God. Other religious fanatics looked for another scapegoat, many blamed the Jews for the plague and the Jewish people were treated very poorly, sometimes ostracized and even killed for their part in the deadly plagues. (Artifact 3)

Another disease that helped shape society was small pox and the epidemic that killed hundreds of thousands of people across centuries. Small pox was extremely deadly and contagious and is notable for killing off royal families, including Queen Mary, who died at age 32 due to small pox (Artifact 4). Although it was extremely deadly, there were survivors including Abraham Lincoln. Surviving, however, comes with a price. Small pox leaves the body scared in painful blisters.

Smallpox in North America was the origin of biological warfare. It was well known that the English settlers brought with them disease to North America when they discovered the new land. As a child, I always thought that the Native Americans accidentally got sick because they did not have the same immunities as the English invaders. The British soldiers knowingly gave blankets and other items out of a small pox infirmary as “gifts” to the Native Americans and one of the English soldiers is quoted saying “Out of our regard to them we gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect.” (Artifact 4).

The smallpox outbreak was certainly horrible but it did not come at a total loss, the first immunization and vaccine came from the smallpox epidemic. Lady Mary Montague, a wealthy poet, introduced the method of variolation, which was the earliest form of immunizations and vaccinations. She and her son were immune to small pox because they were inoculated with pus from a blister to develop antibodies. This process was perfected by Edward Jenner who is now regarded as the father of immunization, he noticed the milkmaids were immune to cowpox so through a similar way of thinking he tried it and was eventually successful. (Artifact 4)

Epidemics have the ability to drive and influence society, but that relationship works the other way around as well. There are instances where the actions and ideas of a culture or group of people can influence how a disease or an epidemic behaves. Coming back to smallpox, the spread was exacerbated by wars, trade routes, and slavery (Artifact 4) and could have been contained if not for these factors.

Early humankind were primal hunter-gatherers who lived off of the land and ate what they could catch or find in a hunt. As people evolved and got smarter, they learned to domesticate animals. Early man did not know about sanitation and the spread of disease so the areas where they kept these animals were a breeding ground for bacteria and diseases to find a vector to spread. (Artifact 1) In this era humans also introduced the single crop monoculture, which lead to malnourishment and more susceptibility to disease outbreaks.

Even today human’s actions are impacting the maintenance and spread of epidemic diseases all around the world. For instance, wars in the Middle East and airstrikes and attacks on health centers and hospitals in Yemen are denying thousands of innocent people healthcare and making them susceptible to even more disease and making that disease more prone to spread. (Artifact 1). Similarly, people who are prone to HIV/AIDS and refuse to seek medical attention are not helping in the control of this disease and making the impact of it that much worse. Which is why it is important to always seek medical care regardless of stigma. (Artifact 9) This class has opened my eyes to a new way of thinking, not just when it comes to diseases and society and the different effects, but also how everything in this world is interconnected.

 

Brady Gannon

Artifact 9

 

Human immunodeficiency virus, otherwise known as HIV, is an extremely deadly disease effecting countless people worldwide every year. HIV can be treated and controlled although not cured. The disease is not discriminative and can kill anyone regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation contrary to public belief. Gay men, African Americans, sex workers, and drug users are all at a higher risk to contract. Because of this, in the US, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there was a strong stigma against these aforementioned groups.

In the gay community (specifically the subgroup of men who have sex with men [MSM]) the stigma was particularly strong. There are about 1.1 million people who have HIV and it is estimated that 1 in 7 of those 1.1 million are unaware that they have it. This is because of the homophobia that runs rampant in the United States, gay men or MSM have less health seeking behavior because of the stigma, which increases their likelihood to develop depression or anxiety. Because these men don’t get tested and are unaware of their condition, this makes HIV so much more transmissible and so much more deadly.

In the US, HIV awareness has increased over the years once people acknowledged how deadly the virus was. With this awareness came many different treatments and preventative methods to protect these at risk groups from contracting HIV. The most important and helpful methods of prevention was education. A large percentage of people in the US were not aware how HIV was spread, which didn’t help the stigma against those groups prone to HIV. Many thought they could get it from touching someone infected. This helped the social stigma and people began to realize it was only through blood and sexual contact you can contract HIV. Another measure taken to prevent the spread of HIV was clean needle sites, some groups provide clean needles for drug uses to have so they are not re-using dirty needles and potentially spreading HIV. This is a controversial method because there is the argument that we would be enabling the bad habits of the drug users but if they are going to inject anyway, they should at least use a clean needle so they don’t spread HIV any more than it is already being spread.

In American culture the stigma was strong againt HIV/AIDS until American actor Rock Hudson announced he had the disease and eventually passed away in 1985. Other notable celebrities to lose their battle to HIV/AIDS are singers Ricky Wilson and Freddie Mercury. Through these celebrities’ deaths, the awareness of HIV became more prominent and the general acceptance grew.

HIV is not even close to being eradicated today and still a very deadly disease, in my opinion if we want to overcome HIV we as a culture need to get rid of the stigma against seeking help and getting tested. If that one person in every 7 knows they have HIV the number of deaths can decrease significantly and we can switch from working to prevent to working to cure the horrible disease and the impact that it has.

Help Received: Class Notes

https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-social-issues/homophobia

https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/index.html

https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/20/48/the-basics-of-hiv-prevention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_HIV/AIDS#Pre-1980s

Brady Gannon

Artifact 8

 

Cholera is a particularly dangerous disease caused by bacteria that can cause devastating effects to countries and civilizations not only because of its symptoms, but because of its speed, versatility, and mode of transmission. Cholera is responsible for seven pandemics and epidemics in the past two centuries. This disease is mostly prevalent in developing countries, notably areas with little sanitation and poor bathroom conditions.

India for example, is the site for many of these outbreaks. Cholera is a food borne and water borne disease so in areas with public wash sites and poor slaughter and sanitation methods, it becomes very easy for Cholera to spread. What makes India the best breeding ground for Cholera is the fact that there are more smart phones in the country than working toilets. The toilets in India are holes in the ground; human excrement gets drained directly into local waterways which is how people contract the bacteria. Education on sanitation is also not as abundant as it should be, by simply washing your hands or properly washing your food, which also may be infected with Cholera due to the water supply, you are significantly reducing your chances of becoming infected with the bacteria.
Not only is it extremely easy to catch in areas such as India, the disease moves fast, killing victims in as fast as one day. The infected persons suffer from extreme water loss due to diarrhea and their faces become sunken in. Dehydration is the usual killer of people who have Cholera.

The rise in urbanization and people living within close proximity to one another raised the Cholera outbreak risk, this was confirmed by John Snow who conducted a study by looking at people infected with Cholera and where their water supply came from. He determined Cholera was a water borne virus and helped pioneer a path to find a new way to combat the deadly disease.

Although these were great advancements, Cholera is still very much so around today. In 2011 there was an outbreak in Haiti which caused almost half a million confirmed cases. The devastating effects of this outbreak carried on for many years after the first confirmed cases. It was determined that the causes that made this so bad was flooding and poor sewage systems and of course poor sanitation.

 

Help Received:
Cholera Powerpoint

Eliminating Cholera transplant in Haiti

Cholera videos

Brady Gannon

Artifact 7

 

Tuberculosis is extremely deadly as we have seen from the film “The Silent Killer” and it has been known to take the lives of the loved ones of the infected. It has been referred to as the “lover’s disease” because family members who take care of their sick loved ones often contract the disease themselves. TB is extremely dangerous in how fast it sneaks up on its victims, and how painful the treatment is. The side effects to the treatment alone are enough for many victims to give up and lose their fight to TB. TB is also extremely difficult to diagnose, which is the cause for its high mortality and morbidity rate, the delayed diagnosis requires expert clinical experience that isn’t often on hand.

People are particularly susceptible to TB in crowded areas, as seen in Philadelphia and New York City in the early 20^th century. Immigrants who travel together and live together in tight, close quarters are more likely to get TB as well as people who live in poorly ventilated buildings where the disease can manifest itself in the lungs much easier. To conquer this disease once and for all we must get a better understanding as to how it becomes drug resistant and combat its resistance. We also need to figure out how to more quickly diagnose TB in order to begin treating it sooner.

 

Help Received: Powerpoint

“silent killer” film

Class discussion

Artifact 6

Brady Gannon

Ireland in the 1800s was a prosperous land and the people were generally happy, that is until the potato blight hit. There was a large population boom where the Irish population more than doubled going from 3.5 million people to approximately 8 million people. The farmers and agricultural workers of the land could not keep up with this increase in population. The increase in the yield of potatoes lead to less healthy crops making them vulnerable to disease.

Once disease ravaged the potato crops, it is estimated that around one million people perished. The Irish were known potato people, they would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and some would survive on milk and potatoes alone. Without their main source of nutrition, came starvation and disease. Many Irish men and women fled the country because of the conditions, which severely hurt the Irish economy and political scene.

If the Irish were able to genetically modify their crops, perhaps we would not have seen these incredibly detrimental effects. The practice of genetically modifying crops as a means of pest control is widely used today and we have not experienced famine like this since the use of GMOs were deployed

 

Help Received: Potato blight powerpoint

Twelve diseases that changed our world

Brady Gannon

Artifact 5

 

Ethics is a tough obstacle to maneuver in any field, in the area of infectious diseases, ethical dilemmas involving vaccines and treatment methods vary. These have been prominent from the beginning of the discovery of infectious diseases to today. One popular question regarding infectious diseases is the vaccine; should everyone get them? Despite overwhelming evidence that vaccines do not cause learning disabilities in any way shape or form, there has been a rising movement of “anti-vaxers” who deny their children vaccines to keep them safe. This not only hurts their offspring, but also the individuals who are medically unable to get vaccinated, the herd effect protects them and the less people vaccinated the more vulnerable they are.

The Tuskegee syphilis study was an ethical nightmare. The study aimed to learn more information about syphilis untreated in black men in Alabama. It was previously thought that a black person’s genome and genetic makeup was objectively different than a white persons. The US government targeted schools and churches to gain the recruits trust and targeted poor black men in the south, where they were poorly educated and sexually active, making it the perfect storm for a syphilis breeding ground. They were told they were getting free medicine but were just given placebos and the effects of syphilis were studied in all of the untreated men. The men were discouraged and even physically stopped from getting outside help and were not permitted to get a second opinion from any other doctors.

This monstrous study was particularly unethical because the study was purely performed on the basis of the color of the men’s skin. The men were also promised medicine and treatment and they genuinely believed they were getting just that when really they were being left to die for scientists and observers to record their suffering. The US government was able to use the Tuskegee Institute to get close to the patients because it was already a prominent institution, it had a hospital, labs, and a complete staff. It already had the trust of the locals, particularly in the black community and they were virtually unable to say no because they relied on the US government for funds so they could not refuse. When the word got out that it was the government that was to blame for the deaths and malpractices, the government was trusted even less than it already was. This goes for not just the government but for all health care practices.

 

Help Received:
Tuskegee experiment video

Syphilis PowerPoint

Brady Gannon

Artifact 4

Up until relatively recent, small pox was one of the most deadly diseases known in human history. The disease manifested itself in sores all over the host’s body, making it extremely contagious and extremely deadly. In the earlier years in history, nobody knew where the disease was coming from, or how to treat it. One of the early associations made with the disease was the color red, it was believed that the color red and heat would burn the disease out. Small pox patients were put into a warm room with red walls, furniture, clothes, etc. and were left with no real medicinal treatment to combat the epidemic.

It wasn’t until the 1700s until the first real effective treatment was developed by Lady Mary Montague. She created the process of variolation. Puss from the small pox sores were put on skin and scratched in, the results from this process was astounding, patients’ symptoms were much milder and the death rate significantly decreased. They did not realize why it worked but they were unintentionally creating small pox antibodies in their immune system to fight the deadly disease.

Lady Mary Montague was a pioneer in the immunization arena that helped Edward Jenner discover the small pox vaccine in a similar manner in 1796. Jenner noticed that the milkmaids were immune to the cow pox that was a common zoonotic disease for the era. This inspired Jenner to take pus from the wound of an infected individual and inoculate an 8 year old boy with the infected pus. This method proved to work and the boy was immune to the epidemic. Edward Jenner is widely recognized as the father of immunization.

The smallpox vaccine was used for decades after that to combat the disease and was discontinued in the 1970s. Not everyone was vaccinated because individuals with autoimmune diseases were extremely susceptible and their bodies cannot produce the necessary antibodies for the vaccine to work. This is why we, even today, rely on herd immunity in not only small pox but for many diseases with vaccines available. This is why it is so important for parents to vaccinate their children and for everyone to get a vaccine, the more people vaccinated means the lower chance of someone who is medically unable to be vaccinated to become compromised with the disease. Recent news however shows that people who are not vaccinated can still receive small pox via secondary or tertiary transmission by sexual contact with someone freshly vaccinated.

 

Help Received

Smallpox film

Smallpox – the speckled monster powerpoint

Secondary and Tertiary Transmission of Vaccinia Virus after Sexual Contact with a Smallpox Vaccinee – San Diego, California, 2012

Brady Gannon

Artifact 3

In the medieval era, the Black Death is the most devastating chain of events that comes to mind in a time of many wars, conflicts, and tragedies. This epidemic is arguably the biggest wide-scale pandemic in the history of mankind, with the disease estimated to have wiped out about one third of the entire Earth’s population. The Black Death however, isn’t the only plague to have devastating effects on humankind. Other notable epidemics to talk about are the Justinian and modern plagues.

To start with the Black Death, the virulence was especially great because of the large number of rodents that lived in close proximity to people. The plague comes from Yersinia pestis which is a bacterium that uses fleas as its vector host. Once the rat host dies the flea with Y. pestis jumps to a new host, in this case the human, which is how this epidemic started.

As expected, with death becoming so common, societal norms and traditions began to change exponentially. To begin, the treatment and handling of the dead was different. Death wheel-barrel like carts were carried through town for the townspeople to deliver their dead to. The funeral bell that was traditionally rung during burials ceased to ring because of how frequent burials were taking place. Many people looked for answers for the disease, most of them having to do with religion, many blamed Jews and had them burned at the stake in town for it. Other religious fanatical groups, such as the flagellants blamed no one but man’s sin, and this was God’s way of punishing us for our wrongdoings.

The plagues did not just have an effect on social aspects of society, but economic and political effects as well. The Justinian plague in 542 AD, reared its head right as western Rome and Eastern Rome were planning to unite, ultimately destroying the plans due to lack of manpower. The Black Death was a terrible tragedy for most, but for some it meant opportunity. After the disease had passed and the smoke and rubble had cleared, there became a surplus of vacant land across the countryside available for peasants to farm and start a new life. These peasants were able to rise a class while nobles and priests lost their serf class and had to adapt some other way. This upper class either turned to learning and performing the jobs their serfs did for them, or taking farmland and workers by force. This is the start of guerilla warfare.

Today, we know much more about the plagues and how to treat and prevent them with modern medicine. Most plagues, if caught early, can be treated with antibiotics and cured. But with modern advancements comes modern issues and problems. Plagues and diseases can travel much faster and further with the frequency of international flights that occurs every day. One example of a modern plague is the Madagascar plague outbreak of the late 1990s.

The Madagascar plague is extremely deadly, with a fatality rate in untreated patients of 100%. A political upheaval and cuts in foreign assistance lead to typical government practices we take for granted being shut down, such as sanitation. It is commonplace for people in Madagascar to have their cattle, chicken, and crops inside of their home out of fear of them being stolen, which of course is a large factor of disease, with rainy season being the worst time for outbreaks. The most unorthodox practice contributing to the plague however, is the practice of unearthing of dead family members to consult with them. Hospitals tried to combat this practice, but families caught on and stopped bringing their loved ones to hospitals to be treated, making the plague harder and harder to eradicate.

Help Received:
plague history powerpoint

Plague movie

Echose of Ebola as plague hits Madagascar – Leslie Roberts.

 

Brady Gannon

Artifact 2

 

Zoonotic diseases and re-emerging infectious diseases are a rising problem in the world today. Diseases transmitted from animal to human have been an issue for hundreds of years dating back to the Spanish flu in 1918 and the bubonic plague. Most emerging infectious diseases originate from animals and can be traced to an agent zero, one particular case or interaction with an animal to bring the disease from its reservoir species to the human population.

One example of an emerging infectious disease originating from an animal reservoir was the recent Ebola outbreak in western Africa. Investigators risked their lives tracking the disease down to patient 0, who had eaten a bat, a known reservoir species for the Ebola virus. This outbreak of Ebola in western Africa and the Zika outbreak in Brazil are a bigger deal than if one had broken out in the United States because of the state of poverty both countries are in. The living conditions in these countries are perfect for vectors for disease (i.e. mosquitos, bats etc.) and health care isn’t as readily available as it is in the United States. This makes for a perfect storm for an epidemic.

With the population dramatically increasing every day, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are becoming more and more of a problem in the world. Urbanization is spreading across the globe and does not only cause detrimental effects to the ecosystem and environment but also human health and overall well-being. With natural habitats being destroyed and fragmented, this increases the amount of forest edge in jungles and woodland environments. With the increase in forest edge, this drives the animals closer to the human population, increasing the likelihood that they interact with human beings and start the spread of a zoonotic disease. The risk of this is becoming higher and higher with the growth of the population.

Another issue about the emerging diseases is the apathetic attitude about preventing and treating them. Especially in America, if it does not affect our population there is little political effort to prevent the disease. Instead of waiting for it to happen, we should be proactive in our preparation for these deadly diseases and devote more money in creating vaccines and preventative measures for potentially dangerous emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

 

Help Received:

Spillover Film

Beyond the Ebola Battle – Winning the War against Future Epidemics

Killer Viruses ppt

Plagues and diseases have been factors in human life for as long as written history goes back. In the era of the hunter-gatherers, plagues were not as big of an issue as one might assume. They moved in small groups and if they were infected, they rarely infected anyone else or spread the infection to other groups. As history continued, particularly with the domestication of animals, is when plagues and infectious diseases became a bigger problem. The large numbers of humans and animals in close proximity proved to be a perfect breeding ground for vectors for plagues. The animals and humans shared a water supply which triggered the spread and the use of single-crop mono cultures lead to nutrient deficiency in humans making them more vulnerable to the diseases.

In our world today, the living conditions and water situation is much better for most areas of the world but some areas of the world are still at a high risk for disease. In countries like Yemen, only 1 in 25 children dont live past the age of 5, for reasons varying from war to disease; sometimes these two factors are not completely independent. Politics and war have contributed greatly to the spread of diseases, particularly countries in the Middle East. Hospitals and health centers and water treatment centers are becoming the targets of airstrikes and attacks which only increases the likelihood of disease spreading throughout the poverty-struck countries.

Health and welfare of the human population is also under attack from another beast that is not a virus but the sedentary lifestyle that more and more human beings choose to live every day. Obesity is increasing at an alarming rate which causes more health complications than I have room to write. The use of cigarettes and climate change also have an effect on rising epidemics in the world today. The ocean is getting more and more acidic, effecting fish and the seafood industry, making it unsafe for human consumption. Climate change is also not helping with the depleting resource of natural freshwater, which is becoming more and more of a problem to human beings as the population increases daily. All of these issues that come with every day human life are only getting worse and the health and future of the human species will not change without us taking action first.

 

Help Received:

Globalization, Climate Change, and Human Health – Anthony J McMichael

Politics and economics and health

Disease and famine as weapons of war in Yemen

Price of being sedentary ppt